The Whale Centre — Attraction in Tofino

Despite the friendly staff and good saftey protocols my boyfriend and I left the whale center Tofino in such disappointment. We came from Ottawa, Ontario and were very excited to attend this whale tour. We attended a 2 hour boat ride for almost 200 dollars each. We felt this tour was more of a boat ride as the tour guide drove the boat around for 30 minutes at a time and we actually dozed off. There were lots of seals, sea otters and seal lions but we did not get to see any whales except for one sighting of a glimpse of the body of a whale. I do understand the fine print of the potential of not seeing any whales but I felt like the tour guide drove around for extended periods of time with no action being done to go out and find the whales.I did not see any ambition or drive to even get an idea of where to look. At times the guide said they rely on others for intel and I felt that was not even being done. We stopped about 4 times and watched seals for over 25 minutes and with a combination of driving around for 30 minutes on and off, there was no time given to prioritize searching for whales. I also wanted to note, the guide was not enthusiastic and I believe this should be a part of the experience you pay for. It's really not pleasant when there is not much knowledge being shared or even small talk. It was a very quiet and awkward boat ride to say the least that actually put us to sleep for a second. It's unfortunate that we had such a bad experience as we were really looking forward to this. For the amount we paid I dont think this tour...

I would like to share my experience with this company ,my wife and I booked a whale watch tour ,we were at the office of the Whale centre 1/2 an hour prior to going on the boat after the orientation the lady at the desk said it’s best we walk down to the boat which wasn’t to far away I’d mentioned to the lady Hannah that I’m booked for a knee replacement in 6 weeks,it was exceptionally painful on arrival of getting to the boat ,she was so kind and thought after the wonderful experience we had with the gentleman operating the boat he was so knowledgeable in the sea life world he was very caring of us as my wife and me were the only two on the boat as it was a slow time for them to . get more people ,we actually originally booked a open vessel so fortunately we called and changed to a covered vessel and the owner still went ahead and got us a boat ,our captain was absolutely amazing,I can’t thank Manuel enough for the wonderful experience we had he was amazing we saw I believe approximately 10 whales ,and sea otters ,seal lions and lots of different species of birds.we were so happy with our experience,as going back to docking the boat I’m just dreading the walk back to the office of the Whale centre ,I notice the reception lady Hannah walking down to the wharf.She had gone home to get her car and she cam down to pick my wife and myself up and drive us back to the Whale centre we’re my car was parked ,I highly recommend the people for your you plans on going on a excursion they are special ,Thanks guys We’ll be...

There are lots of options in Tofino to choose from; I'm so glad we picked this one! Since our scheduled tour day was going to be rainy and cold, they reached out to us and suggested we move our reservation to a covered boat so we'd be more comfortable - they were right! I was glad we weren't out in the rain and wind, it made the experience so much more enjoyable The main office is quite easy to find in Tofino and we were able to park right outside. After a quick safety check with John, Owen took our small group down to the dock where we met Alistair who is exactly what I imagine a boat captian to look like. Alistair did a second safety check, welcomed us aboard, and welcomed us on behalf of the First Nations people whose land and water we were about to enjoy. Such a great addition! Alistair navigated us to all the spots where we might see whales, but the water and weather weren't cooperating very well. We didn't see any whales, but we did see seals, sea lions, and otters! Alistair told us stories of the local islands and people who lived in the waters around Tofino. It was great to learn about everything around us. He answered all our questions and explained why certain areas were best for watching and why other areas were so choppy and not ideal for boating. Since we didn't see whales in this outing, we were given a rain check and can return in the future to go watching again. We will...